France has stated that it rules nothing out in its response to a major cyberattack that targeted the refrigeration systems of hundreds of French supermarkets in October, directly blaming the incident on Iran. Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot announced that the Iranian ambassador would be summoned to Paris and that France would pursue European-level sanctions.
Speaking with FranceinfoTV, Barrot emphasized that the nation is prepared to take all necessary and proportionate measures, including actions that will not be disclosed publicly, to deter further cyber sabotage. He noted that the primary objective is to send a strong deterrent message to any actors in Iran or elsewhere considering similar operations.
Barrot previously stated on the sidelines of a G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Paris that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was responsible for the October 11 and 12 cyberattacks, marking the first large-scale cyber sabotage campaign on French territory. The coordinated incidents affected roughly 700 supermarket sites, manipulating cooling systems to raise temperatures and forcing stores to discard large inventories of spoiled food while causing fires at several locations. Similar freezer system disruptions have since been reported across at least nine other European countries.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau confirmed the opening of a formal investigation into Shahid Kaveh, identified as an offensive cyber unit linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The prosecutor's office has requested international arrest warrants for two officials associated with the group. French cybersecurity coordination agencies noted that the unit specializes in industrial sabotage campaigns primarily aimed at Israel and the United States, alongside France and other European partners.
Investigators revealed that the attackers utilized web interfaces to hijack commercial cooling systems, forcing abnormal and indefinite defrost cycles while disabling automated sensor alerts designed to trigger when temperatures exceeded safety thresholds. French officials have additionally accused Tehran of spreading misinformation regarding recent domestic protests, escalating diplomatic tensions between the two countries.